


teukeunhae | vegetable play

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: Single Dad AU | Leeteuk x Heechul / Donghae x Eunhyuk [2]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 05:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5152658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donghae and Hyukjae have a school play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	teukeunhae | vegetable play

"Ouch!" Jungsoo immediately dropped the needle in his hand and stuck his finger in his mouth. He pulled it out and eyed the growing red dot. He grudgingly pulled another bandage out of the box sitting on the table next to him and wrapped it around his finger, no easy task with two other bandaged fingers. He cursed under his breath and picked up the needle again to finish the last few stitches. It took him a good twenty minutes to finally finish his sewing project. He tied off the thread and snipped the extra bit off. 

Jungsoo sat back in his chair. His back ached, his eyes hurt, and his fingers were throbbing. He held up the garment and examined it: it wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. He folded it neatly and tucked it into the bag already half full with his first creation. School plays were quickly becoming the bane of Jungsoo's existence. Each year the play director grew more ambitious and demanding of the parents. Dressing the boys up as shepherds for their kindergarten class play had been easy: just a few bed sheets and fake beards. The trees in first grade required a bit more ingenuity, but they had managed. This year, Donghae and Hyukjae had informed their father that they needed an onion costume and a bean sprout costume for their spring play. Jungsoo had done a bit of research into the vegetable costume industry before realizing that buying a costume would require more overtime than he was physically able to work. He'd walked into a fabric store and, after wandering around helplessly for a while, had found an agreeable young sales associate to  help him pick out the fabrics necessary for constructing two costumes.

"Do you need a white onion or a scallion?" the young lady asked.

"Uhh..." Jungsoo didn't know. Donghae hadn't specified, so Jungsoo made a snap decision. "A scallion." Scallions were easier to sew anyways. Worst case scenario: there would be two scallions. Jungsoo could live with that.

"You don't have patterns for these, do you?" Jungsoo asked hopefully.

The sales associate shook her head sympathetically. "I'm afraid not. We do have quite a few parents who come through here looking for costume materials though. It wouldn't be a bad idea."

Jungsoo thanked her and took his supplies home. To his dismay, Donghae informed him that he was in fact supposed to be a white onion. Jungsoo told his son that he wasn't able to return the materials he'd bought, which wasn't exactly true but he didn't want to return to the store. "Is there another scallion in the play?" Jungsoo asked.

"No," Donghae replied. "But--"

"No buts, you're a scallion now."

"Dad said 'butt'," he heard Hyukjae whisper to his brother. The two giggled.

The boys threw themselves wholeheartedly into the play. They practiced their two lines each every chance they could and Jungsoo would hear them singing their songs when they were supposed to be brushing their teeth. He didn't mind though: there were worse things in the world than singing about vegetables.

Jungsoo tidied up the sewing supplies, being sure to tuck the needles in a safe place where the boys couldn't find them. The last thing he needed was an unexpected trip to the emergency room. He tucked the costume bag into Hyukjae's backpack before turning off the lamp and heading to bed. The boys were already asleep when he stepped inside their shared bedroom. Hyukjae was sprawled out in the middle of the bed, his twin brother snuggled close on one side. Jungsoo hurriedly prepared for bed and gently pushed the boys over so he had room to lie down on the mat. He closed his eyes and fell asleep without another thought.

*

His alarm went off way too early. The days were getting shorter now that it was fall so all was still dark. Jungsoo gently freed himself from Hyukjae's grip and slipped off to the bathroom to quickly shower. He toweled his hair dry and pulled on his uniform for the hotel. It had been a fight with his manager to take the night off, but they had reached a compromise in the end. Jungsoo would be at work before the crack of dawn and Jongwoon would replace him with enough time to leave for the play. He hurried to the kitchen and quickly threw together a batch of fried rice with their leftovers from the night before. He was tempted just to set out packets of ramen for the boys to warm up themselves, but that would make it the third time that week. Why nobody had come up with healthy cup ramen was beyond him.

Jungsoo heard something tap on his window. Without bothering to check the source, he pressed the button next to the intercom to open the main door down below. A few minutes later, there came a soft knock on the door. Jungsoo opened it and let in Heechul. They'd worked out this system when Jungsoo had first started taking the sunrise shifts at the hotel. The buzzer was incessantly loud and would wake up the boys, so instead Heechul would toss pebbles at the windows until Jungsoo granted him entry. Thankfully, their tiny apartment wasn't too high.

"Boys are still asleep," Jungsoo said by way of greeting. "There's fried rice on the stove for breakfast and kimbap in the fridge for dinner. I know it's a lunch thing, but--"

"It's fine," Heechul said. He held up a bag of his own. "The ahjumma at the street stalls by one of my customers decided she likes me and gave me about a gallon of soup to take home. We'll eat well."

"Great," Jungsoo replied. He gathered up his things and shoved his feet into shoes before saying, "Thanks again for taking care of the boys."

Heechul brushed him off. "See you tonight. Wait - you're not eating?"

Jungsoo shook his head. "I'll be fine."

"Ya!" Heechul replied, a little louder than expected. He quickly grabbed a plastic container from the cabinet and scooped some of the fried rice into it before shoving the entire thing at Jungsoo. "Take it," he demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Thanks," Jungsoo replied. And he meant it.

*

"Daddy's coming to our play, right?" Donghae asked nervously.

"Yes," Heechul replied. "Now stop fidgeting so I can fix your costume." He pulled the scallion costume down to Donghae's knees and handed his nephew the makeshift headdress for the scallion tops. "There. What are you supposed to be anyways? A leek?"

"A scallion!" Donghae replied. "Did you know that scallions are an excellent source of vitamins A and K as well as phy...to...chemicals?"

"What's a phytochemical?" Heechul asked.

Donghae shrugged. "I don't know."

"I'm a bean sprout," Hyukjae announced, playing with the ends of his costume. "I'm full of fiber and vitamin B and iron."

"Good job, Hyuk," Heechul said. He fixed the back of Hyukjae's costume before standing up to survey his nephews. Jungsoo had done a good job if you didn't look too closely. Heechul looked at his watch: a quarter to seven. Jungsoo should be there soon.

A young woman who Heechul assumed was their teacher came over to inspect the boys. "You look very nice, boys," she said after examining the bean sprout and the scallion. "Now go line up with the others!"

The boys scurried off and she turned to Heechul. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Park Sunyoung."

"Kim Heechul," he replied, giving her a quick bow. "I'm their uncle."

At that moment, Jungsoo burst through the doors looking a bit out of breath. He looked around for the boys but spotted his brother first. He walked over to the two. "Hello," he bowed. "Are the boys in their costumes already?"

"Relax, Jungsoo," Heechul said, clapping his shoulder, "I've got it all under control. Your bean sprout and leek are all set."

"Leek?" Jungsoo replied. 

"Err, asparagus, scallion, whatever." 

"Scallion," Sunyoung said. "Good to see you again, Jungsoo. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure these kids are all prepared." She excused herself and walked over to separate a broccoli and a pepper before a fight ensued.

"You made it," Heechul said.

"Barely," Jungsoo replied. "Nearly missed the bus. Come on, let's go find seats."

*

The play was a success. Well, as much of a success as a play of second graders could be. The tomato forgot his lines, a carrot said her lines at the wrong time, and an eggplant tripped over a cabbage. Both Jungsoo and Heechul cheered loudly when the bean sprout and scallion took their bows, and Heechul yelled out, "That's my leek!"

"Scallion," Jungsoo corrected him, but it didn't matter. 

They met the boys in their classroom after the play to congratulate them. Hyukjae wanted to wear his bean sprout costume home, and Donghae decided he'd like to be a scallion forever. 

"Alright you two," Jungsoo said with a laugh. "Let's go home."

They were nearly home when Hyukjae suddenly asked, "Daddy, can we stop for ice cream?" He saw Jungsoo and Heechul exchange looks and added, "Just a little bit of ice cream. Hae and I can share one."

"I think that's a good idea," Jungsoo said. "Would you like to come with us, Uncle Heechul?"

"Pleeeeeeeease?" Donghae begged, hanging onto his arm.

"Of course," Heechul replied.

The four of them sat around a small table licking their ice cream cones in silence. Donghae's started dripping since he was only licking one side and soon the chocolate ice cream dripped onto his scallion costume. Hyukjae tried to reprimand his brother but in the process, his cone somehow ended up in the stems of the bean sprout. Jungsoo silently bemoaned the death of his handiwork as he tossed both ice cream-laden costumes into the garbage, but he wasn't angry. He doubted they'd ever use the costumes again anyhow.

It took a while for the boys to wind down after the sugar, but soon they were fast asleep. Jungsoo tucked the blankets around them before tiptoeing back to the kitchen where Heechul was opening up bottles of soju.

"That wasn't as painful as I thought," Heechul commented. "But your kids definitely were the best."

Jungsoo couldn't help but smile. "They practiced their lines every day for a month," he replied. "Come on: ask me the nutritional benefits of a scallion."

Heechul snorted but then his face softened. "You've got some good kids, Jungsoo."

"Yeah," he replied. "Don't know what I'd do without them."

"You won't have to stay up to the wee hours sewing vegetable costumes," Heechul replied, noticing the bags under Jungsoo's eyes. He held up his bottle. "To the boys."

"To the boys," Jungsoo repeated. They both took a giant gulp. Jungsoo was out before he even finished the bottle. Heechul maneuvered him onto the mat, being sure to let him down once he was sure neither of the twins would be squashed. He checked to make sure Jungsoo's alarm was set before seeing himself out. 

Even if he couldn't bring himself to say it, Heechul admired all Jungsoo did for his kids. He knew that his hyung didn't intend on being a single dad, but he was doing his best. Donghae and Hyukjae were lucky to have him. Heechul walked past the deserted food stalls that were closed for the night. Maybe he'd bring his nephews around the next time. If the ahjumma had fallen for a grumpy electrician like he was, surely she'd have a soft spot for two sweet little boys.

"They'll be alright," he muttered to himself. He knew it.


End file.
